My Freshman Dorm: New North

Well, well, well. You’re probably checking out these pages because you got in and you’re trying to make your decision. What can I say about Freshman Housing?

It was, without a doubt, a new experience for me. It was me, my roommate, and a couple hundred of our closest friends in one building. Usually one says ‘closest friends’ sarcastically, but that is definitely not the case here. By the end of Freshman year I would call all of my hallway, and many more of the students upstairs, downstairs, and everywhere my closest friends.

If I can offer a piece of advice that will pay friendship dividends down the line: if you’re in your room and you’re not changing or studying, leave your door open! It’s freshman year and nobody knows anybody yet. But if you’re at USC, and especially if you’re in New North, you’re not afraid to talk to people. And if you are a little nervous you’ll soon find that your peers are not. Leaving your door open allows one of you to strike up the conversation! On the same note, if you’re feeling bold enough to get out of your room to meet people, be the one to say ‘what’s up?’

During welcome week is a great time to get to know a few people. They may not be people you hang out with regularly, or they may become your best friend throughout college. I met one of my best friends on the very first day of school; neither of us knew that we’d be so close down the line. We happened to hang out as we checked out the pep rally at the Galen center together with mutual friend and the rest is kinda history. Then, he lived around the corner from me, this fall we became roommates for our senior year!

Going back, one of the cool things about my dorm room was that it was a place where I got to express who I was. I got to put up the posters I wanted to, and setup my side of the room how I wanted it to be: from the Muhammad Ali poster on the wall to the Christmas lights around the ceiling. It was also a place for me to find out what my roommate was like. He got to express himself in the same way, I learned about his love for the Clippers immediately.

Another plus I remember from my freshman housing was the proximity to food. Freshman year all students are mandated to have a meal plan, whether it’s the Cardinal plan or the Trojan plan. Being so close to EVK, and having food whenever I really needed it was a pleasure that I haven’t been able to recreate since freshman year.

Do you even go here, Darren? #fighton

My friend Devon’s room in New North #selfie

Some of the best cooking I did was Freshman year. That bubbly though.

I loved my freshman dorm. But my experience, and everyone else’s, was colored by what I made of it. When you get the chance, just have fun with it!